Suns at Hornets
THE STORY: Despite not being shown much respect by analysts in the preseason, the New Orleans Hornets are back in the playoffs after a one-year hiatus. But they still could finish anywhere between fifth and eighth in the West. The currently tied-for-sixth Hornets host the Phoenix Suns on Friday in an attempt to scratch together a late run to catch the Denver Nuggets for the No. 5 spot.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, My45, CST
ABOUT THE HORNETS (45-33): New Orleans, which is tied with Portland but owns the tiebreaker, is three games back of Denver (48-30) and a game clear of Memphis (44-34) for eighth with four games left. After Phoenix, a crucial game at Memphis awaits Sunday before the season concludes at home with Utah on Monday and at Dallas on Wednesday. Chris Paul continued his recent scoring binge Wednesday with 28 as the Hornets rallied from 19 down to beat Houston 101-93, clinching a playoff berth for the fifth time in nine years since moving to The Big Easy. The All-Star added 10 assists and nine rebounds.
ABOUT THE SUNS (38-40): After playing for the Western Conference championship a season ago, postseason hopes this season came crashing down when Phoenix lost six of seven prior to the win against Minnesota on Wednesday. Despite sitting Steve Nash and Grant Hill for the entire second and fourth quarters, Phoenix dispatched the Timberwolves 108-98. Marcin Gortat had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Hill kicked in 17 in 19 minutes and the bench contributed 58 points.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Hornets forward Trevor Ariza has tallied 19 points in consecutive games, his most since netting 19 on Jan. 26 against Golden State. Gortat has eight double-doubles in his last 11 games and has scored in double figures in 23 of his last 24.
KEY STATISTIC: Paul, who had fluid drained from his knee Tuesday, has been the game-high scorer in five of the Hornets’ last 10 games. He was game-high scorer just seven times in the first 68 games. After a poor February in which Paul averaged just 14 points on 41.2 percent shooting and the Hornets went 4-8, the All-Star has averaged 17 points, shot over 47 percent and averaged 10.7 assists since. One problem that hasn’t corrected itself is Paul’s usual dead-eye 3-point shooting. He’s shooting 39.2 percent for the season but just 24.6 percent (14 of 57) in his last 15 games, including a six-game stretch without a 3-pointer – tying his career-high futility streak.
SEASON SERIES: The Hornets have taken two of three in the season series, including two in March. Paul has averaged 24.7 points on 56.5-percent shooting, 9.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in the first three games. Nash has averaged just seven points on 7-of-26 shooting and 11 assists. They have split 16 previous games over their careers with Paul averaging 22.8 points and 8.8 assists and Nash 15.7 and 10.2.
KEY INJURIES: Phoenix: G Mickael Pietrus (right quad). New Orleans: F David West (knee)
LAST WORD: "This team fought all year. It's been a long time coming. Our coaches come in every day and believe in us and work hard for us. We have a lot of resilience and we never give up." - Paul on making the playoffs.